Matt Adcock

“There are two types of beings in the universe: those who dance, and those who do not.”

Buckle up sci-fi fans as Marvel’s loveable, universe saving heroes are back, bringing with them an ‘Awesome Mixtape #2’ which sets the light-hearted tone wonderfully for this full-scale galactic adventure.

The team led by Peter ‘Star Lord’ Quill (Chris ‘Jurassic World’ Pratt), backed up by the hot green skinned love interest Gamora (Zoe Saldana), genetically enhance raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and the impossibly cute ‘Baby’ Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) – a sentient tree. But this time it is violent maniac Drax (WCW’s Dave Batista) who gets many of the best comic lines.

Director James Gunn returns and is right at home straight from the grin-inducing opening credits battle which sees the Guardians taking on huge space octopus creature to the sounds of ELO’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’. All the while the little Groot dances around the battlefield lost in the melody and it’s so joyful that you’ll probably wish you could rewind it straight away and watch it again.

The plot sees the Guardians in a scrape after a job the for proud Sovereign race goes pear-shaped when Rocket helps himself to the bounty they were paid to protect. Being pursued across the galaxy they cross paths with Quill’s estranged father Ego (Kurt Russell) who invites Quill, Gamora and Drax, to his home, while Rocket and Groot to repair the ship and guard Gamora’s dangerous sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) who they have captured.

Also on hand are blue skinned Ravager Yondu (Michael Rooker) who is desperate to win back favour of the Ravager high commander Stakar Ogord (a fun cameo from Sylvester Stallone which may even lead to a Ravager spin off movie).

Everyone goes about the madcap business with great heart and the action comes thick and fast. The winning combination of adventure and humour makes for a fantastic cinematic experience and bodes well for when the Guardians team up with the Avengers in the near future.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are fast becoming an iconic element of the Marvel cinematic universe – and Vol.2 is a big screen joy to behold. This is a sci-fi series to rival even Star Wars and it’s great to know that they will be back for more (as promised in the end credits). Speaking of which there are multiple extra scenes after the film so don’t rush off.